you're watching nbc 4, washington's news leader. now, live in hd, this is news 4 at 11:00. too close to call. the first vote of the 2012

presidential campaign. tonight republicans in iowa have been going to their caucuses. right now two candidates are in a dead heat. steve handelsman is in des moines, iowa, with the very latest on this. steve? >> reporter: thanks. good evening from iowa caucus headquarters in des moines, iowa. where some veteran iowan republicans have been walking around tonight shaking their heads. as nbc news projects ron paul to be the surprising to some third place finisher here in the iowa caucuses, the two big headlines seem to be mitt romney fails to dominate. and rick santorum emerges as the stop-romney coervative alternative. the record turnout said gop officials and less than an hour into the iowa caucuses, the republican votes were coming in. a near three-way tie. rick santorum went to a caucus in johnston.

the social conservative had traveled the state, his support rising rapidly at the end. >> i went out and trusted the people of iowa. i have felt welcomed. it has been a great experience. >> reporter: ron paul won cheers earlier today from young supporters. they were his mainstay backing his libertarian pull. >> what we need is constitutional government, limited government, small government. >> reporter: mitt romney, he'd been leery of iowa and mostly stayed away after losing badly here in '08, but with iowa conservatives' votes split romney rose to the top tier and counted on an iowa win. >> i have a good lead with tea partiers and people who consider themselves very conservative. >> reporter: but in fact no candidate had a big lead. as iowa republicans gathered, michele bachmann came by and newt gingrich. he was defeated in iowa by negative ads aired by groups backing romney and paul. but now romney will have to fight gingrich and rick santorum for the core support of the gop.

next weekend in new hampshire, rick santorum and newt gingrich seem certain now to gang up on mitt romney. and saturday and sunday's back-to-back debates. live from iowa caucus headquarters, des moines, i'm steve handelsman reporting. now back to you. >> thank you, steve. president obama also rallied voters in iowa tonight. he held a video teleconference such as this one in des moines. the president thanked people there for their support in 2008, and he asked for some help in the upcoming campaign. when asked if he still believed in hope and change for america, mr. obama said he is more optimistic now than when he first ran. we're following some breaking news now regarding d.c. ward 5 councilman harry thomas jr. tonight we've learned that attorneys for thomas are in negotiations with prosecutors to reach a plea agreement. sources say no agreement has been reached at this time. thomas is under a federal criminal investigation for

misspending $300,000 in city money. he promised to repay all the money, but today he failed to make a $50,000 payment to the district. if he is ten days late on that payment, he faces even more penalties. the winter weather has arrived. as cold air blasts the region. some people saw snow, others felt ferocious wind. and you know what? it's not over yet. tonight shoem ary stone is out with how people are coping with the cold weather. we begin with chief meteorologist doug kammerer. >> it is a cold one. temperatures in to the 20s. the wind is still the biggest factor. our current wind chill 11 degrees with a temperature of 23. but that wind out of the north-northwest at 14 miles an hour, that's what gives us that wind chill of 11. we do have some areas down into the single digits. these are the actual temperatures. 12 right now in hagerstown.

23 here in the district and 21 down towards laplatta. it is finally just about out of here. still a few flurry, but some areas this evening did pick up one to two inches from around frederick county, virginia, right down to portions of the county. it is normally my job to tell people how cold it is. for some reason, i don't think i have to tell you. >> not at all. it's like what you just described. it's when that breeze hits you. that's when it's bone chilling. i'm trying to stay warm with my wool socks, boots, my nbc coat, hot chocolate, my gloves and my hat. oscar mercy is working on route 50 in arlington. he'll put in nine hours in the big chill. >> it will be windy and cold, but we'll see how it is.

>> reporter: we can tell you how it is. temperatures in the lower 20s and the wind makes it feel like the lower teens. oscar says he keepses warm by working hard. >> keep you moving. that way you keep warm, your body. >> reporter: many warm up your bodies with extra layers, coats, hats, scarving. helen bought new boots. >> it is freezing. i want to get warm and run around. it is so cold out. this is exactly the kind of product i need. i had to get them right away. >> reporter: this weather is perfect for skating here at silver spring ice rink at veterans plaza. the ice is hard, it's cold. and you can have a lot of fun whipping around here. >> it was cold out here and it's windy, but still, you dress up warm, you have a ball out here. buy your own skates, come out with your own, put them in a locker, have a good time, bring your family. all fun. >> reporter: skaters seized the bone-chilling moment. the manager told me this is the best ice he's seen all season. winter weather is here and people hope it warms up soon.

>> ridiculously cold. >> reporter: it is it is ridiculously cold. but at least we don't have snow. back to you. >> you said, my friend. the cold weather also having an impact on the occupy d.c. movement. hundreds of protesters filled the area at the start of the demonstration back in october. but as the cold weather sets in, we're told the encampments in macpherson square are starting to shrink. about 100 people remain in the area protesting government waste and corporate greed. three days into the new year and d.c. police are investigating their second homicide. it happened a few hours ago in northeast d.c. police say a man was shot a number of times inside his house in the 45th street. that's near the d.c./maryland line. they have not released any details about a suspect or a motive in this case. and a d.c. nightclub where a double stabbing occurred last week has now lost its liquor

license. police chief kathy lanier shut down the place, it's called the mood lounge. she shut it down last friday for 96 hours. the two people who were stabbed outside the club are expected to survive. ward 2 councilman jack evans said neighbors had complained about the violence, the noise and the trash around the club even before the stabbing. tonight a man has confessed to a string of arson attacks at an islamic cultural center and four other locations in new york on new year's day. police say that man was tracked down through a stolen car with virginia license plates. twaes believed to be at the scene of two of those attacks. the man said he had personal grievances with each targeted location. he's facing arson-related charges, no word if he'll be charged with a hate crime. the park ranger that was murdered at mount rainier on new year's day has ties to our area. margaret anderson was shot trying to catch a guy who didn't stop at a checkpoint in the park.

before anderson move od to the washington state area, she worked as an emt providing medical assistance to people who got hurt in the park. >> i think in this world there's some people that are just make the world a better place, shaend was one of those. >> reporter: police say anderson's killer 24-year-old benjamin barnes is also suspected in an earlier shooting where four people were wounded. his body was found in the park as well where it's believed he succumbed to the cold. we will find out this week how a new round of pentagon budget cuts will impact the u.s. military. defense secretary leon panetta is expected to outline a new defense strategy on thursday. that plan would include $450 billion in cuts over the next ten years. it's expected to include the removal of 4,000 troops from europe. the cuts also will have an impact on the production of u.s.

weapons systems programs. if congress deadlocks on the spending agreement, there could soon be an additional $500 billion in cuts. montgomery county police need your help finding the so-called bandage bandit. he held up a cvs pharmacy on christmas eve. surveillance shows the man walking in with his entire head wrapped up line a mummy and his hand in a sling. police say he went to the pharmacy counter, told the pharmacist he had a gun and demanded prescription drugs. he left with an unchis disclosed amount of oxycontin. no one was hurt. coming up in the broadcast, a major construction project now under way. could severely slow down the commute for drivers in northern virginia. >> crossing the line. a police officer in trouble for giving a woman a speeding ticket, then asking her out on a date. we'll tell you how a family tracked down their lost dog four

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] combine a pnc cashbuilder visa credit card with a pnc performance select checking account and get up to 1.75% cash back for just about every purchase. learn more and apply today at pnc.com/cashbuilder. pnc bank. for the achiever in you.

a big construction project just got under way, and it could create delays along the beltway near tyson's corner. crews are demolishing the old lewinsville road. jack we the latest. >> reporter: it is in the name of progress. but the destruction of the old lewinsville bridge will cause temporary pain for drivers. for about three weeks lanes on one or both sides of the beltway -- they're going to try and vary that as much as they can -- will close overnight from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. the lanes needed to be replaced

to accommodate the new high occupancy toll lanes. drivers know they have to be patient. >> a lot of times i get off at 9:00 or 10:00 at night, so i usually don't take the beltway on weeknights because they have lanes blocked. >> it's been a pain in the butt in the morning and the evening. yeah. and i think route 7 is done now. so it has alleviated some of the problem. it seems to have gotten better. >> reporter: the hot lanes will run down the center of the road and that requires the road to be widened. the bridges weren't big enough. the new lewinsville road bridge has already been built. back to you. >> jackie bensen, thank you. rush hour traffic in alexandria is even busier than ever. the final round of federal workers moved in to the new mark center near seminary road today. a total of 6400 people now work at that complex. congress recently capped the army's parking spaces at about

2,000 spots. that's to help ease congestion there. and the virginia department of transportation crews also retimed the traffic signals and they reconfigured ramps to open up more lanes. there's a cop in illinois who is being sued now. he allegedly asked a woman on a date after he gave her a speeding ticket. the lawsuit says the officer pulled the woman over in a town called stickweed. that's a suburb outside of chicago. then two days later he left a note on his car outside her apartment asking for a date. part of the message read, i did cost you $132, the least i can do is buy you dinner. the woman says, the officer violated her privacy by searching motor vehicle records for her address. she wants an unspecified payment in damages. >> yeah, he might lose on that. >> that's not -- that's not looking good for that guy. >> oops. >> so doug, vance says it's

cold, it's january, it's supposed to be cold, just deal with it, right? >> but you said bring it on yesterday. is this cold enough for you? >> in january, it's supposed to be cold. in july it's supposed to be hot. >> i am loving it. i absolutely love this. i love it even more because it will only be a couple of days. >> that's what i'm talking about. >> we'll be out of this by the time you wake up on your thursday. so that's the good news. couple of things falling from the sky today. we'll talk about something else falling from the sky. but snow earlier today. outside right now no snow, just cold. that's right. it is january. you expect january to be the coldest month of the year. it normally is. and mother nature finally giving us that cold air. snow showers across the area. we saw some towards winchester. this was earlier this morning. notice the coating there on the ground. that melted. and then they saw another round which looked just like this earlier this evening. some areas around the winchester location in towards frederick county, virginia, picked up one to two inches of snow including

portions of northern falk county as well. we did see snow coating some of the roadways across the area. high temperature today only 34 degrees. the low of 29. but it didn't feel nearly that warm, believe it or not. the highest i saw the wind chill was at 24 earlier this afternoon. yes, it finally felt like winter. i know a lot of you have been waiting for the cold air. it's here. like i mentioned, it is not going to stick around so long, so enjoy it now. 23 degrees the current temperature out there. i can deal with the cold temperatures. i love it cold. but i don't want to see winds gusting over 20 miles an hour. because that means we have significant wind chills. you can see exactly what i'm talking about. the current temperature 17 in gaithersburg. that's the current temperature. but look at the wind chill. 4 degrees in gaithersburg. how about 3 below zero in hagerstown? that is cold.

leesburg in at 16 degrees. the wind chill at 23. the winds will continue to die down this evening. but take a look at the wind chills for tomorrow morning. very similar to where they are right now. but back to around 20 in d.c., 14 in gaithersburg. a cold start on your wednesday. but with the winds tomorrow between 10 and 20 miles per hour, we'll be dealing with wind chills in the 20s than the teens. a little bit warmer, but just a little bit. a lot warmer by the end of the week. all of the snow now gone. one little speck just to the west of warrenton. we did see lake effect snows across the area. look at the lake effect snows across the region all the way down towards the atlantic. that's how far they can get on 30 to 40-mile-an-hour winds. we did see areas pick up some accumulation. cold is here but not for long. later this week that cold air will move back up to the north. say good-bye to the colder

weather. milder air moving in as we head into the weekend, but the cold air won't be gone for long. i see a couple more areas where we could see that come in. something else i told you falling from the sky tonight. how about a couple of meteors? we call that the quadrantid meteor shower. the moon going down at 3:14. it should be optimal viewing if you want to brave the cold and a few of you said, hey, why not? partly cloudy, very cold with the wind chills in the single digits when you wake um tomorrow morning. 12 to 20 as you step ot the front door. a few more flurries, but i'm not too worried about the snow tomorrow. i don't think we'll see nearly as much as we saw today. 46 on thursday, 51 on friday. 56 on saturday. then another chance of mostly rain maybe into snow sunday morning.

but that's something we'll continue to watch for you. >> not so bad. >> not so bad. >> it's been worse. >> what do you think? >> eh. lost and found. there's a collie named dodger, a collie mix. he vanished from his home four years ago. his owners searched for him. seemed he was lost forever, though. then last week somebody found the dog in severna park and brought him to the ann arundel shelter. they found the owners thanks to a microchip. dodger has scrapes and is missing a few teeth but i'm guessing he'll get tlc. we've got sports coming up. beth!

hi. looking good! you've lost some weight. thanks! you noticed! you know these clothes are too big now, so i'm donating them. not going back there again. good for you! how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. whole grain? whole grain. [ femalennouncer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't... multigrain cheerios has five whole grains and 110 lightly sweetened calories per serving... more grains. less you! multigrain cheerios.

so i hear alex ovechkin -- the old alex ovechkin -- how come i can't say that name? >> ovechkin. let's just go to that. >> that's a lot easier. >> he showed up and so did some other guys. he's had a lot of help lately. looks like the caps may have finally found their rhythm under dale hunter. for weeks stringing together a couple of wins. those inconstant caps could be left behind in 201. they jumped out on top over calgary and never left their foot off the gas extending their winning streak to four games. mike green back after missing the last 23 games because of an injured groin. marcus johanson. alex ovechkin. one goal. 17th of the season. and his fifth goal in the last three games. capitals go on top 1-0.

same score in the second. caps on another power play. ovechkin fires from the point. brower there for the putback. look at him put it right between meek ka kiikka kiprusoff and th. gets tripped up here, but nicklas backstrom gathers the puck, wraps around the net and kicks it out for dennis wideman for the goal. johansson splitting the "d." wipes out, but so does the flames defender. back strum heads up play to get it. and i got the goal. that's his third assist of the night. so the capitals beat calgary 3-1 for the fourth straight win. >> you know, we just want to win every game. you know. this is typical to be in the middle of nowhere. we want to play in the zone.

>> just the commitment. you know, guys are doing everything it takes to win. we got guys that are blocking shots. we got pucks deep when we need it. there are going to be mistakes that happen during the game. but as long as we stay focused on as a team we'll be all right. >> if the season ended today, the capitals would be a seventh seed in the playoffs. so they're slowly but surely climbing back up the standings. nick back strum took a nasty hit to the head. we'll update his status as we know more. the terps, a team that hasn't won a game on the road this season. for a while they were dominating. but got too close for comfort. maryland looking for their seventh win in a row. first half maryland already up 13-0. cornell turns it over. howard. i like the way this kid plays. look at this little spin move right here. up and in.

terps up 15-0 to start the game. later in the half, howard again. this time dishing to alex lynn for the oop. terps only up by 3. this one got close. shawn moseley misses, but check out the freshman hustle. and they're going to get it back to faust. he can't get it to go. the fresh hahnman had 15 points, 9 rebounds. next up nc state. a little acc play for you laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done.

there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? ♪ [ male announcer ] the new united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in. thanks, mom. who are you calling "mom"? dunkin' sausage pancake bites, delicious like mom's, only easier to carry -- get three for $1.59.

okay... is this where we're at now, we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. hey, i love your cereal there-- it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way. lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one. never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. if my mom can fight and beat breast cancer, i can walk 60 miles. (woman) the fund-raising was the easiest part.

people were very giving. complete strangers wanting to help. i knew someday i was gonna do this walk. if i can do this, you definitely can do this. we can do this. we can all do this together. (man) register today for the... and receive $25 off your registration fee. because everyone deserves a lifetime.

more than three decades of business, the melody record shop in dupont circle is going to close. the owners say they'd love to stay open, but changing technology and a difficult economy have taken their toll. they say the past 34 years melody has adapted from vinyl to 8 track, cassette, cds, then back to vinyl. the store will close for good later this winter. an official date has not been announced. we'll recap our stop tory. right now 93% of the precincts are reporting and it remains a two-man race for the front-runner spot between mitt romney and rick santorum. right now, though, rick santorum leads by more than 100 votes. that number has been changing the last hour or so. ron paul is in third place.

we stay on thisout the night. we have the latest tomorrow. >> many people in iowa are very, very glad that this is over and tonight was the last night. it's just been getting bombed calls. and many of them said they've had to pull their phones out of the sockets because they can't get any peace whatsoever. it now moves to new hampshire. where another contest will be going on there. then to the all-important state which really does matter and that will be south carolina coming up pretty soon. south carolina is the one that is pretty much, if i'm not mistaken, will determine who the candidate is going to be for the last several years. that's our broadcast for now.

>> announcer: it's "the tonight featuring rickey minor